Do we have a pipeline of skilled workers?

Self-reliance Enterprise education equips students with skills to become efficient leaders and entrepreneurs.  

The country today needs skilled workers, especially in engineering, research, accountancy, law and a host of other subjects. However, what is needed, perhaps, are leaders and visionaries with insights to establish the businesses of tomorrow. Considering the vast demographic size of the country, it has a shortage of well-run, well-managed companies. Such companies are necessary as they add value to the economy and create jobs and wealth. Many leading thinkers have hinted at an emerging job crisis in the country and reliable reports have been published stating that most engineers and graduates in the country are unemployed.

The job market in India is tentative and most graduates across the country have poor job prospects, hence there is a dire need to make the younger generation more self-employable. What is needed in India is a new generation of entrepreneurs who understand business, something which often does not demand a rigorous education.

Needs creativity

Unlike other subjects, learning entrepreneurship is slightly more challenging as it demands the learner to have the right mix of qualities. Enterprise education, however, allows individuals to become efficient and competent entrepreneurs.

There is a dire need for new businesses in the country, especially in a scenario where the world is becoming digitalised with the rampant growth of technologies. The need of the hour is to create entrepreneurs who can leverage the newest technologies and business tactics to create viable and profitable businesses. Enterprise education helps entrepreneurs to learn skills needed to excel in business, allows them to see entrepreneurship as a viable career option, and allows them to think beyond just being an employee. Nearly every school and college in the country awards grades to students. Such grades determine the kind of higher learning and the job role eventually a student will attain. However, enterprise education does away with a simple pass or fail grade and incorporates real life into the learning process. It also allows students to learn from their successes and failures, which is how people actually learn.

Such a learning method instills students with qualities that are needed to be efficient entrepreneurs and business leaders. Those who undergo enterprise education grow more self-confident, self-reliant and determined. Once students have these abilities, they are better poised to succeed in a globalised world and are better able to lead and understand how to take advantage of new technologies. Perhaps, the most exciting facet of enterprise education is that it allows anyone to acquire the ability to be a successful entrepreneur. Seen in the light of what may be an emerging job crisis in the country, there is a dire need for such education as it creates job creators rather than prepare people for jobs.

Enterprise education prepares people to be at the helm of their own enterprise. To run an enterprise, a person should have qualities such as the ability to identify real-world problems and to use strategic thinking to solve such problems. Running a business also demands an entrepreneur to have the ability to think critically and creatively to overcome barriers and challenges. An entrepreneur should also understand the advantages of innovating and realise that innovation is a key to success in business. In addition to teaching the skills, enterprise education also teaches students how they can take measured risks and the right decision despite having incomplete information in certain situations.

Inclusive approach

Students, who undergo enterprise education, also learn how to take responsibility of others on themselves as well as remain accountable for the outcomes of their actions. Enterprise education helps students the art of working collectively as well as individually to achieve a common goal. It also enables students on how to collaborate with external organisations, bodies, and groups. Every business leader must have excellent interpersonal skills and enterprise education allows leaders to hone such skills. Since all the qualities are essential for successful entrepreneurs, enterprise education provides a new dimension of teaching and will influence their role in the economy of tomorrow. A host of universities that have engaged in an endeavour of creating students a potential entrepreneurial workforce.

(The author is chief operating officer, All India Technical and Management Council)